Greg Bennici

Greg Bennici is a member of the firm’s Managed Care + Employe Benefit Litigation Group. He frequently handles disputes related to group welfare benefits, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), health insurance, disability insurance, and life insurance coverage. Mr. Bennici regularly defends claims brought against plan fiduciaries, and represents plan administrators and insurers in enforcing plan and policy terms and recovering plan assets. Read his full rc.com bio here.

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D.N.J. Rejects Plaintiff’s Fee Request In Connection With State Court Remand Of Action Removed Under ERISA, Scaling Back Earlier Charge That Defendant’s Removal Was Nonsensical

In 2010, Chief Justice John Roberts observed that that ERISA is “an enormously complex and detailed statute.” Conkright v. Frommert, 559 U.S. 506, 509 (2010). Some things don’t change. A recent decision out of the District Court of New Jersey exemplifies how even the most seemingly mundane procedural act — removal — implicates legal nuances … Continue Reading

ERISA Does Not Preempt Third Party Providers’ Unfair And Deceptive Business Practice Claims Against Health Insurer, Rules Ninth Circuit

By Greg Bennici on September 19, 2018 Posted in Health, Insurance Benefits, Jurisdiction, Preemption

In Hansen v. Group Health Cooperative, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 25033, (9th Cir. Sep. 4, 2018), two psychotherapists (“Providers”) sued Group Health Cooperative (“GHC”) in Washington state court, alleging GHC engaged in unfair and deceptive practices, in violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. The Providers claimed that GHC engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices … Continue Reading

New DOL Disability Regulations Now Effective

By Greg Bennici on April 2, 2018 Posted in Disability, Regulations

Significant changes to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) rules regulating disability claims procedures are now in force. These new rules apply to claims filed on or after April 1, 2018. ERISA directs the Secretary of Labor to establish and maintain rules which ensure that plan fiduciaries and insurance providers fully and fairly review claims for … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Clarifies New York Anti-Subrogation Law Prohibits Offsets For Settlements; Declares Plan’s Choice-of-Law Provisions May Not Govern Offset And Subrogation Rights

By Greg Bennici on November 2, 2017 Posted in Jurisdiction, Plan Interpretation, Preemption, Subrogation

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that New York’s anti-subrogation statute, N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-335(a), applies both to “offsets” for prospective benefit payments and to reimbursements for prior benefit disbursements. In so holding, the Second Circuit ruled that a Plan’s choice-of-law provisions may not be dispositive of which … Continue Reading

Fifth Circuit Maintains Default Deferential Standard Of Review In Denial Of Benefit Claims, But Suggests It May Soon Be Overruled

By Greg Bennici on May 2, 2017 Posted in Discretionary Authority

For more than twenty-five years, the law of the Fifth Circuit has been that health and disability benefit denials based on factual determinations (e.g., whether a beneficiary is disabled or whether a treatment is medically necessary within the meaning of a plan) are reviewed by courts under an abuse of discretion standard, regardless of whether … Continue Reading

“Probate Exception” Bars Federal Jurisdiction over ERISA Dispute

By Greg Bennici on February 23, 2017 Posted in Preemption, Statute

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York has ruled that the so-called “probate exception” to federal jurisdiction precludes federal courts from adjudicating cases implicating federal question jurisdiction, including cases arising under ERISA. In so doing, the N.D.N.Y. joins ranks with a small but growing number of federal district and circuit courts … Continue Reading